Personal Protection Equipment (PPE) has become a blessing and a curse during the COVID-19 pandemic. From a public health perspective, PPE is essential to maintaining any semblance of normalcy during a pandemic — without PPE it would be impossible for us to work and take care of those who are contagious. However, the single-use and disposable nature of PPE has resulted in a significant global increase in solid waste, which begs the question: How should your organization handle PPE Waste?

At Material Management, we believe your waste program is an integral and necessary component of your business. We made a commitment to our customers to be their full-circle waste and sustainability partner, and that promise remains constant. We believe that now more than ever, it’s critical that we make it possible for you to continue your operations and help you respond to the unique demands that you may be facing as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic.

When Karen started Material Management 18 years ago, the term “recycling technology” was inextricably linked to recycling equipment. Today, recycling technology takes many forms — from IoT ultrasonic capacity sensors to GPS fleet tracking — software has become an important tool to monitor the various signals in your waste program. Material management has fully embraced our Industry’s technology revolution, but this shift is not without its challenges. Largest of these technology challenges is integrating these disparate technologies and their data into actionable signals in your waste program.

Landfills have for some time has been the “out of sight, out of mind” solution to trash. This prevailing attitude toward waste would have continued unless the negative effects of landfills didn’t start to surface in other areas of our lives — it is at a fever pitch, and we can’t ignore it anymore. The truth is, the prevailing attitude to waste handling through has a few fundamental flaws:

Lowering costs while increasing profits is the fundamental reason why most companies integrate recycling equipment in to their Waste program. However, the decision to integrate one type of recycling equipment versus another can have far-reaching implications on the profitability and efficiency of your Waste Program.

Reporting is at the core of Material Management’s waste management strategy. It is more than a necessity of invoicing, it informs every adjustment we make to your waste program. Your company’s Waste Reports are the pulse of your Recycling and Sustainability Strategy. It communicates the overall health of your program, and provides the structure necessary to measure the success and failure of each component.